Retractable ball point writing implement



Oct. 28, 1958 J. o. FORSTER RETRACTABLE BALL POINT WRITING IMPLEMENT Filed Dec. 27, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JOHN O.FORSTER Oct. 28, 1958 I J. 6. FORSTER 2,857,882

RETRACTABLE BALL POINT WRITING IMPLEMENT Filed Dec. 27, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

Oct. 28, 1958 Filed Dec. 27. 1956 J. o. FORSTER 2,857,882

RETRACTABLE BALL POINT WRITING IMPLEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 6 19 52 I 5% 5/ H g s? a,

. v 35 %g y a2 es 5 55 j g V I 55 15 I i 67 1 70' 66 I .l I 8 Q 92-4; 3 56 LR: 4 F694 I $69 69 53 68 I kW w H 35 38 I R i l FIG. l2. FIGJS. 1

JOHN 'R ATTORNEY.

United States Patent C) T RETRACTABLE BALL POINT WRITING IMPLEMENT John O. Forster, Harrison, N. Y., assignor to Ferber Corporation, Bergen County, N. J., acorporation of New Jersey Application December 27, 1956, Serial No. 630,823

8 Claims. (Cl; 120-42.03)

unit in a simple manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ball point pen which will not easilygetout of order by virtue of its simplicity of construction.

A further object of the present invention is to produce in the tubular casing member or housing of the writing implement the aforesaid mechanical arrangement by providing a spring-urged cartridge or ball-tip-carrying writing unit or plunger receivable in a recess in a push-type actuator; the latter having grooves or slots (alternatingly short and long, a short slot and a long slot constituting a set), formed in the cylindrical face of its body and having. an integral button extension formanipulating the actuator; and a resilient or flexible stop fixed within the casing or housing acting asa stopping-means selectively in the short or the long helical slot forextension and retraction. of the writing unit.

A still further object of the present invention is to design the said slots in such a manner as to provide a smooth positive working of the aforesaid mechanical arrangement.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds, it being understood however, that it is not intended that the invention belimited to the exact details described herein which illustrate the production of a satisfactory example of many which may be obtained as a result of the knowledge gained through or gleaned from an understanding of the invention; and it is further intendedthat there be included as part of the invention all such obvious changes and modifications thereof as would occur toa person skilled in the art' to which this invention pertains and as would fall within the scope of the following. claims.

in the drawings:

Fig. l is an elevationel view of a writing instrument of the ball point type according to the invention, shown in retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the Writing; unit in extended position;

Figs. 4-8, inclusive, are broken-away views, in section illustrating the steps from retraction to, extension and return to retracted position of the plunger writing unit;

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic and developed view showing 2,857,382 Patented Oct. 28, F358 the short and long helical slots or tracts (two of each) and the travel of the actuator member having the slots with relation to the flexible stop fixed in the housing;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a cap. forming part of the housing according to the invention in modified form;

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing position of parts of the mechanism when writing cartridge or plunger is in retracted or withdrawn position;

Figure 11a is a diagrammatic sectional view showing position of parts of mechanism in transit during a moving stage of the actuator member; A

Figure llb is a diagrammatic sectional view of said mechanism with the cartridge plunger unit in writing position;

Fig. 12 is a detail partial view partly in section, of said mechanism when the cartridge plunger unit is in its inoperative (retracted) position;

Fig. 13 is a right-hand side view of Fig. l2; and

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 13 but showing the position of the mechanism parts when the writing cartridge unit is in operative (writing) position.

Referring now more particularly to thedrawings, there is disclosed, by way of example, a ball point writing instrument i5, having a tubular casing member or housing comprising the barrel 16 andicap 17*, a ballpoint writing cartridge or plunger unit 18. and an actuator member 19 having a. push-button tip 37, positioned on they plunger 18.

Cap 17 may be removably secured to barrel, 16 as by means of a threaded neck 20 or any' other suitable means, such as, for example, by a bayonet lock or press fit.

The ink cartridge or plunger unit 18 carrying the ball writing tip 25'at its forward end may be of conventional design and construction and has an enlarged section 26 suitably located for providing an upper stop for one end of a helical spring 21, the other end of said spring resting on the bottom 22 of cavity 23. The actuator member 19 has a cylindrical recess or bore into which may removably fit the top or upper portion of the ink-cartridge unit 18; Thus, by removing the cap 17, the. ink cartridge plunger 18 carrying the ball writing tip 25 may be removed from the actuator member 19 and replaced with a similar one. The barrel 16 is provided with the conventional front opening 24 for projection and retraction of the writing tip of the cartridge unit 18 during manipulation of actuator member 19 as more fully explained hereinafter.

Referring now more specifically to the. novel features of the invention, the preferred embodiment being particularly illustrated. in the drawings, there is. shown cap 17 having a spring pocket clip 30 extending. through an opening 31 at the top of cap 17, forming a bent portion or resilient element 32 in abutment with shoulder 33 which is formed by the bore 34 of cap 17. The bent portion or resilient element 32 further extends, as indicated at 35, into cap 17, and terminates in an inwardly bent portion 36 forming a springy or flexible stop or detent.

Actuator member 19 comprises the finger-actuated push-button tip 37 and the integrally connected cylindrical body 38 provided with the bore or recess 39 for the removable reception of the rearward or top end 40 of the cartridge writing unit plunger 18. The face of cylindrical body 38 of actuator member 19 is provided with grooves or slots 41, 41a and 42, 42a which are helically disposed so as to overlap along generatrioes of body 38. Slots 41, 41a are longer than slots 42, 42a and are alternately arranged or disposed as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 9. The further disposition of the slots is such that, when the tip 36 of clip member 35 rests in the for- Ward. end. 41b of slot 41 or 41a, the helicalspring 21 v will urge the actuator 19 rearwardly into the positions v dition (flattened out).

downward to the left.

shown in Figs. 4 and 8. When the tip 36 of member 35 is in engagement with the forward end 42b of slot 42 or 42a, the writing tip 25 of the ink cartridge unit plunger 18 will be in extended position as shown in Fig. 6. To enable the tip 36 to find its proper location in either the short or the long slot, actuator 19 will be momentarily pushed into a slightly more depressed position, as seen in Fig. or Fig. 7, than in the position seen in Fig. 6.

The following is presented as an aid in further under- 1 standing the operation of the means for retracting and extending the writing unit plunger within the tubular casing member or housing. Referring to Fig. 9, slots 41, 41a, 42, 42a are shown in diagrammatic developed con- Let it be assumed that the tip 36 of spring member 35 rests at the bottom of a long slot. Now, if actuator 19 is depressed, that is, pushed forward in the direction of arrow A, tip 36 will slide over the section between a long slot and a next adjacent short slot in the direction of the arrow 2a, its relative motion being indicated by dotted lines between points 2 and 3. This sliding movement is facilitated by laterally (i. e.

widthwise) tapering the slots as seen in Fig. 11. At 3 the spring member tip 36 will fall into the next short slot and actuator 19 will move or rotate from position 3 i in the direction of arrow 3a to position 4, under the action of spring 21 bearing against the cartridge unit plunger 18, after pressure has been released on actuator 19, giving it freedom to return upward. Spring member tip 36 in its final position will, therefore, rest either at point 2 or at point 4, which in turn will mean that the writing tip of the cartridge unit 18 will protrude from the opening 24 of the barrel 16 when in position 2 or 'be in an extreme position in slot 42 before coming to rest when the finger pressure is released (Fig. 6), and the writing tip 25 will be in extended writing position. To retract writing tip 25 of the cartridge writing plunger unit 18, the actuator 19 is again depressed as in Fig. 7, causing the fixed spring member tip 36 to enter the next adjacent slot or groove of actuator 19 and the latter to ro- "tate or move upward into the position shown in Fig. 8,

where tip 36 will engage the bottom of one of the long slots.

Referring to the embodiment shown in Fig. 10, there is disclosed a cap 50 having a spring pocket clip 51, terminating in a washer-like disk 52, which is secured to cap 50 by a flange 53 of sleeve 54. Sleeve 54 has two opposed spring tongues 55, 56 stamped out of a sleeve 57. The tongues 55, 56 have tips 53, 59 respectively, engageable in slots similar to slots 41, 41a and 42, 42a. The tongues 55, 56 serve the same function as the individual spring member 32, 35, and, according to the embodiment depicted in Fig. 10, there will be a tongue for each set comprising a long groove or slot and a short groove or slot. The tongues will simultaneously operate in each set of slots.

As can be readily seen from Figs. 12 to 14, in this particular disclosed embodiment of the invention the rotatable actuator has four grooves or slots, alternatingly short and long. These grooves start at line 65, curving The inside or rear walls of these grooves are slanting from the bottom 66 outward as indicated at 67. These slants facilitate the camming of the tip 36 out of one groove or slot, thereby enabling it to drop into the next adjacent groove or slot, when the actuator is operated. The straight wall portion 68 may provide a guide so that, relatively, the spring member with its tip 36 may ride straight up and out of the respective groove or slot in which tip 36 was located.

The function of the mechanism will be understood by the following description of its operation.

The assembly unit W (plunger 18 and actuator 19) is at the start in inoperative, retracted position (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 8, l2 and 13). Actuator 19 is in its extreme extended position. The tip 36 of spring blade 35 has been left at the bottom 69 of the long slot 41. Pushing now actuator 19 at 37 downward will cause the latter to traverse spring blade or resilient element 32, 35 with its tip 36 and thereby to cause tip 36 to ride along or adjacent to the straight wall 68. It is understood that, in this embodiment of the invention, the spring blade 35 with its tip 36 is in a fixed position, and it is the actuator which moves, slides or reciprocates. The spring blades 35, 36 may be said to ride with relation to the movement of the actuator 19. Since spring blade tip 36 is now riding along a slanted wall 67, tip 36 during depression".

of actuator 19 will be forced out of the long slot 41 until the upper end of the long slot at line is reached. There the tip 36 will be now located in the upper termi-- nation of the short groove or slot 42. When the actuator 19 is released, the tip 36 of spring blade or resilient element 32, 35 will find themselves at the beginning of short slot 42. Helical spring 21 is urging the assembly W cartridge unit 18 and cylindrical body 38 of plunger 19 upward, thus causing the tip 36 to execute a relative movement in the short slot 42, until it reaches the bottom 70 thereof. Since the slot 41 is curved, it is evident that the assembly unit W will make an approximate quarter turn to the right of Figs. 12-14, inclusive, as shown in Fig. 14, when the tip 36 comes to the position at the bottom 70 of short slot 42, and the assembly unit W will be stopped in a depressed position which leaves the writing tip 25 (Figs. 5 and 7) in its extended, Writing position. When it is desired to retract the writing unit or cartridge 18 into barrel 16, plunger 19 is again depressed (Fig. 7), causing tip 36 to ride along wall 71 (Fig. 11b) toward the starting line 65 and of the short slot 42. The helical spring 21 will again urge the writing unit W upward, causing the tip 36 to enter the top 72 of a long slot, the writing implement W making again a quarter turn as the spring blade 35 with its tip 36 rides in the long slot 40 towards the stopping point or bottom 69. Quarter turns are referred to herein as this embodiment of the invention discloses four alternating short and long slots, spaced approximately ninety degrees apart.

Although the drawings and the above specification discloses the best mode in which I have contemplated embodying my invention, I desire in no way to be limited to details of such disclosure, for in the further practical application of my invention many changes in the form and proportion may be made as circumstances may require or experience suggest without departing from the spirit of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A writing instrument comprising a tubular casing member, a plunger axially shiftable in said casing member, a writing tip so secured to an end of said plunger as to project from said casing member in a first axial position and to be withdrawn into said casing member in a second axial position of said plunger relative to said casing member, spring means in said casing member urging said plunger into said second axial position, an actuator member on the other end of said plunger manually operable to move said plunger toward and beyond said first axial position against the action of said spring means, one of said members having a cylindrical surface facing the other of said members, said one of said members being provided with at least one first and at least one second helical groove alternately disposed on said cylindrical surface, each of said grooves turning a closed end toward said writing tip, the closed ends of said first and second grooves being respectively close to and more remote from said writing tip, any adjacent two of said grooves having portions overlapping along a common generatrix of said cylindrical surface, and a resilient element positioned on a portion of the other of said members facing said cylindrical surface, said element having an extremity receivable in any of said grooves and pointing toward the closed end thereof, said element and said grooves being shaped for mutual camming engagement whereby said extremity is forced out of a groove engaged thereby and enabled to move along the common generatrix into an adjacent groove upon relative axial movement of said plunger against the action of said spring means, said extremity being positively guided in said adjacent groove during the return movement of said plunger to said first position whereby said actuator member is rotated relatively to said casing member through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing of said grooves, the closed ends of said first and second grooves forming abutments for said extremity arresting the latter in said first and said second axial position, respectively, in response to pressure from said spring means.

2. A writing instrument according to claim 1, wherein said grooves are progressively shallow in a direction away from said closed end.

3. A writing instrument according to claim 1, wherein said grooves are formed on said actuator member.

4. A writing instrument according to claim 3, further comprising an outer pocket clip rigid with said casing member, said element forming an internal extension of said clip.

5. A writing instrument according to claim 1, wherein said first and second grooves form an even number of pairs of grooves, said element being provided with a second extremity diametrically opposite the first-mentioned extremity and engaging another of said grooves.

6. A writing instrument according to claim 5, wherein said element is a sleeve nested between said members, said extremities being a pair of tongues depending from said sleeve.

7. A writing instrument according to claim 1, wherein said first and second grooves form an even number of pairs of grooves.

8. A writing instrument according to claim 7, wherein said element is a sleeve nested between said members, said extremity being a tongue depending from said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,370,420 Fischer Mar. 1, 1921 2,775,229 Sams Dc. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,026 Great Britain of 1887 948,908 France Feb. 7, 1949 

